The Ringer-Verse

Ben and Matt James break down the good, bad, and ugly of gaming’s recent reckoning with AI-driven development, decompilation, and cloning, and assess whether it will fundamentally reshape the medium’s economic and creative model. Then they provide their impressions of the newly released ‘Final Fantasy Resonance’ and ‘Nintendo Switch Sports Resort’ and react in real time to the dissolution of storied studio Bioware. Finally, Ben sets the scene for 'GTA VI' by bringing on The Atlantic’s Jeremy Gordon to reminisce about the October 2001 release of ‘Grand Theft Auto III’ and discuss how it altered the trajectory of open-world gaming and created the ‘GTA’ juggernaut.

(0:00) Intro(1:40) AI talk(34:45) 'Final Fantasy Resonance'(46:32) 'Nintendo Switch Sports Resort'(54:08) Follow-ups to last week's pod(57:41) Bioware news(1:01:49) Jeremy Gordon joins the show

Host: Ben LindberghGuests: Matt James and Jeremy GordonProducer: Isaiah Blakely
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The Boys are back and they’re jumping into the next two episodes of ‘VisionQuest’. They discuss the Vision we knew from ‘Avengers’ versus the Vision we see in this show, rate the kid-pluck level so far, and have a lively debate about the MCU character ethics.

(0:00) Intro

(7:19) Spoilers ahead

(9:56) ‘VisionQuest’ Episodes 3-4 instant reactions

(1:19:25) Outro

Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman

Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Devon Baroldi, and Jamie Yukich

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell
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To live is to pod; to pod is to live! First, Ben, Steve Ahlman, and Matt James react to the latest 'GTA VI' and 'Ocarina of Time' trailers and talk about Ben's hands-on session with the 'Ocarina' remake. Then, they share recommendations for a few recently released games that fit a Halloween theme. After that, they honor the 40th anniversaries of 'Castlevania' and 'Metroid' and the release of 'Castlevania: Belmont's Curse' by bringing on GameSpot's Steve Watts to discuss what "Metroidvania" means, debate whether it's a good name for the genre, review 'Belmont's Curse,' advise a listener on when to look up game solutions, and do a draft of the greatest Metroidvanias across several categories. Finally, Ben and Daniel Chin share their spoiler-free reviews of the big-screen 'Street Fighter' reboot.(00:00) Intro(00:13) 'GTA'/'Ocarina of Time'/spooky-season games(27:42) The Metroidvania Draft(1:54:49) Daniel Chin joins for 'Street Fighter'Host: Ben LindberghGuests: Matt James, Steve Ahlman, Steve Watts, and Daniel ChinSenior Producer: Steve AhlmanSenior Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopowell
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The Boys are back and they’re returning to the MCU! They give you all of their thoughts on the first two episodes of ‘VisionQuest,’ diving into the new ensemble cast of Marvel AIs, the return of Ultron, and some of the Marvel Easter eggs we’ve seen so far.

(0:00) Intro

(7:01) Spoilers ahead

(9:57) ‘VisionQuest’ Episodes 1-2 instant reactions

(1:11:13) Outro

Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman

Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Devon Baroldi, Jamie Yukich, and Kevin Cureghian

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell
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The Boys are back and they are coming to you from New York City! They give you their thoughts on what they’ve seen so far at NYCC 2026, including news from 'Daredevil: Born Again,' 'X-Men '97,' and the DC-Skydance merger.

(0:00) Intro

(1:53) 'Daredevil: Born Again'

(7:40) Marvel panel

(19:08) 'X-Men '97'

(24:17) 'VisionQuest'

(27:34) ‘Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’

(29:55) DC and Skydance

(44:16) Outro

Hosts: Van Lathan, Charles Holmes, Jomi Adeniran, and Steve Ahlman

Producers: Aleya Zenieris, Devon Baroldi, and Jamie Yukich

Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell
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